Dick Cavett – Make 'Em Laughhttp://www.pbs.org/wnet/makeemlaugh
The hilarious men, women, and moments in American entertainment and why they made us laugh.Wed, 11 Nov 2015 15:46:11 +0000en-UShourly1https://wordpress.org/?v=4.7.5My Comedian Hero: Dick Cavetthttp://www.pbs.org/wnet/makeemlaugh/video/my-comedian-hero/my-comedian-hero-dick-cavett/90/
http://www.pbs.org/wnet/makeemlaugh/video/my-comedian-hero/my-comedian-hero-dick-cavett/90/#disqus_threadTue, 13 Jan 2009 16:49:23 +0000http://www.pbs.org/wnet/makeemlaugh/?p=90Dick Cavett: He had such a great time being Bob Hope. And when I would get him on a show of mine– I’d see him and come on with me and– of course with Johnny and Jack and everybody. And– he always– swapped gags. He had– got a bunch of gags– ready and he came [...]

Dick Cavett: He had such a great time being Bob Hope. And when I would get him on a show of mine– I’d see him and come on with me and– of course with Johnny and Jack and everybody. And– he always– swapped gags. He had– got a bunch of gags– ready and he came on and ready to do. And about current stuff. And I thought– as many people have wondered– was there anyone underneath the Hope façade– the great comic picture that he was covered with. And– was there anything under the covers? So I would– intentionally not steer him into something I’d knew he’d do a joke on. Sometimes it was fun, too. As in, “Were you really a bad boxer back then? And you knew you were gonna get– I was on the canvas so much they called me Rembrandt. And I was the only fighter carried into the ring.” He– he would come right up with them like– a machine or like a computer. But– so I would ask him to talk about himself. And I got one show– it’s also on the DVD. It’s the one where I got so conversational with him without his doing gags, that at one point he stated some fact about himself. Oh, he talked to him when he was a kid– but he got a scar– the scar– “Little scar you can see– ’cause I got that from protecting my dog. And it was some– guys were throwing rocks at my dog and I went up– ” And he didn’t have a punch line for it. But he was charming as hell just talking. At one point he said something– he said, “Hey, would you rather have a gag on that one?” And I said, “No. That’s just fine. That’s fine.” Amazing man.

]]>http://www.pbs.org/wnet/makeemlaugh/video/my-comedian-hero/my-comedian-hero-dick-cavett/90/feed/2Best of the Best: Dick Cavett’s Comedian Herohttp://www.pbs.org/wnet/makeemlaugh/video/all-interviews/best-of-the-best-dick-cavetts-comedian-hero/15/
http://www.pbs.org/wnet/makeemlaugh/video/all-interviews/best-of-the-best-dick-cavetts-comedian-hero/15/#disqus_threadTue, 02 Dec 2008 16:00:42 +0000http://www.pbs.org/wnet/makeemlaugh/?p=15Dick Cavett: I had written to him. And he asked me to come out. When the door opened, there was someone and it wasn’t quite Stan Laurel. And then I noticed one ear. And then it became Stan Laurel as I went back to the face. And he had– I never knew if the speech [...]

Dick Cavett: I had written to him. And he asked me to come out. When the door opened, there was someone and it wasn’t quite Stan Laurel. And then I noticed one ear. And then it became Stan Laurel as I went back to the face. And he had– I never knew if the speech impediment was his character’s speech or his own. But he had what I think is called a bilateral sibilance. So that it came, “Well, that– it certainly is nice to meet you.” And then spent two enchanted hours with Stan Laurel. Talked about how he hated seeing the movies on the local channels during the day and during the morning and– and he said– ’cause they cut them up so badly and so stupidly and they kill jokes. And the station that was running them– he offered to– go in and cut them for them and reedit them so they’d be funnier. He said, “But they never bothered to answer my letters, so I never did– ” Some 15 something employee probably thought– “There’s some old fart wants to come in and edit his movies or– “